[Bug]: Unable to start multiple instances of Core Keeper due to xvfb-run #4680
Labels
command: console
command: monitor
command: start
distro: Ubuntu
info: systemd
type: bug
Something isn't working
User story
As a server admin, I want to be able to start multiple instances of Core Keeper server
Game
Core Keeper
Linux distro
Ubuntu 22.04, Other
Command
command: start, command: monitor
Further information
Note, this may not affect only core keeper, but could potentially affect ANY game server that uses xvfb-run
xvfb-run, which is used as the preexecutable for Core Keeper server, has a limitation in that running just the command alone will attempt to create and use x server number 99. However only one xvfb-run can only use one x server, therefore when attempting to start a second instance of Core Keeper, it fails to start citing
xvfb-run: error: Xvfb failed to start
xvfb-run -a
should be the bare minimum, as this allows xvfb-run to auto select an x server, from 99 to 599, starting at 99, and incrementing until it finds an open x server.xvfb-run -n ###
lets you specify an x server number, but hard coding this is effectively the same as not selecting any x server.xvfb-run -a -n ###
is the combination of both, where it selects a random x server, starting at ###, incrementing until it finds an open x serverHowever, this is also partially flawed, as two
xvfb-run -a
running simultaneously (such as with a systemd unit on boot) will not account for each other, and may end up selecting the same x server number, resulting in one still failing.I don't know if there's a truly fool-proof way to mitigate this. using
xvfb-run -a -n $(shuf -i100-599 -n1)
(or whatever random range method preferred) should mostly mitigate this, however there is still the off chance that both end up generating the same random number due to the relatively small scope (compared to the normal range for random numbers), and therefore can still collide when starting simultaneously.Alternatively, this may be possible by fuzzing the start time of core keeper by a random number of seconds, say... somewhere between 5 and 45s. Probably don't want this too large, because then people that use monitor cron jobs might have issues. But again, due to the small scope, duplicate randoms are possible, even if unlikely.
In theory, standard PRNG uses the PID and nanosecond time to generate a number, so even two starting parallel at the same nanosecond time should be different values, however that's assuming the standard range that the PRNG algorithm uses. When shortening the range, regardless of method used, the likelihood of two simultaneous randoms being the same becomes more likely.
I don't know if there's a "best" way to prevent xvfb-run x server issues, or a way to guarantee no overlap other than selecting static server numbers per instance, but that would need to be done by the user. That is an option, though.
Perhaps just making a variable in the Predefined Parameters in the config like:
Then change the preexecutable to
xvfb-run -a -n ${xservnum}
Relevant log output
No response
Steps to reproduce
xvfb-run: error: Xvfb failed to start
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